Monday 10 March 2014

Read: Acts 5:1-11, Ephesians 4:29-32, John 16:12-15

Since the release of the movie Star Wars in 1977 thousands of men, women and children have wished that they could be real life Jedi. In the movies the Jedi possessed special powers through the use of The Force. The Force is described as an impersonal energy which permeates everything in the universe. With the right ability this energy can be tapped into through training and can be used to do incredible things. Through The Force the Jedi are able to manipulate and levitate objects, fight people, influence people's thoughts and even see the future.

Throughout history many people have viewed the Holy Spirit as somewhat similar to The Force. In their view the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force or energy of God's power through which God works in the universe. According to this view the Holy Spirit is not a person and has no will or emotions, it is only an impersonal force or energy like electricity or gravity. One such modern group that teaches this view are the Jehovah's Witnesses. They speak of the Holy Spirit as 'God's Active Force.' They have even adjusted their translation of the Bible to reflect this belief. This view is in direct contradiction to the words of Jesus and the teaching of Scripture and springs from a denial of the Trinity.

Instead, we find in Scripture that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person within the Trinity with emotions, a will, thoughts and intelligence. As a distinct person in the Trinity the Holy Spirit shares the same essence with God the Father and God the Son making Him equally God.

Consider a few examples from Scripture. In the chilling story in Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira sell a property that they own. Rather than give everything from the proceeds of the property to the poor they keep some of the proceeds for themselves. This itself is not sinful but, desiring to appear more righteous and receive the approval of others, they decide to deceive the other believers by lying about giving the whole amount. The consequences are dire. Peter rebukes Ananias for the lie and Ananias is struck dead.

Notice especially Peter's words in verse 3: "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?"

Notice that Peter's rebuke is that Ananias has lied to the Holy Spirit. This is his great sin for which he is struck dead. This prompts the question, how can someone lie to a force or energy?

Sapphira is given a similar rebuke with a similar result. Peter asks her how she could agree to test the Spirit of the Lord and she is struck dead also.

This is not the only place in the New Testament where the Holy Spirit is described in these personal terms. In Ephesians 4 Paul commands the believers not to "grieve the Holy Spirit." You cannot grieve a force or an energy. To be grieved is a deeply personal emotion. Only a personal Holy Spirit could experience such an emotion.

Jesus also describes the Holy Spirit in personal terms. When Jesus is telling His disciples about how He will send the Holy Spirit to them after He ascends into heaven He describes the Holy Spirit not as an it but as a He. At least 8 times in this passage Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as He or Him, both personal terms used for a personal being.

We could look at countless other examples of the Holy Spirit being described as a “person” and doing things that only a personal being could do. We can take great comfort in this. The Holy Spirit is not some kind of force, He is a person, a member of the trinity who is loving, kind and gracious to us just as the Father and the Son are. The Holy Spirit is just as interested and involved in the work of redemption and is intimately interested in working in our lives. Praise God!

Word Moment

Having an accurate Bible translation is vital to proper study and growth in God's word. Some translations, like the Jehovah's Witness's New World Translation have been deliberately mistranslated in order to support their own teachings and presuppositions. Be careful of accepting things that they read from their translation of the Bible. Instead, you should always verify what they are teaching against an accurate English translation like the NIV, NASB and ESV amongst others. You can be confident that English translations like this are accurate to the original and more than sufficient for study.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Why does it matter that the Holy Spirit is a person and not just a force or energy? What practical implications do you think that this view would have?
2. Are there any other passages you can think of that describe the Holy Spirit in personal terms? (Hint: there are a lot) See if you can write a list as a group so that you can be prepared next time you get a knock on the door.

Prayer:
Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration: 

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Praise God the Holy Spirit that He is not only an impersonal force but is a personal being who is deeply interested in caring for His people. Pray that He would be working powerfully in you so that you might grow in your love for Him and be more like Christ.
• Pray for the many small, country Presbyterian churches throughout Australia. Pray that they might be encouraged as they seek to grow in their faith together. Pray that they would have a passion and heart for those who are lost and that they would be taking advantage of every opportunity to share Him.

Saturday 8 March 2014

Read: Revelation 19:11-16, Philippians 2:6-11
Jesus is the King

It reads like a scene from some incredible movie. John's eyes must have nearly boggled out of his head. Try to picture the incredible imagery. At the end of time heaven itself stands open and there before you is a great, white horse. Upon the horse sits an incredible rider. His eyes are like blazing fire. On His head sits not just one crown but many crowns. He is dressed in a robe that has been dipped in blood. Following Him is the biggest army you have ever seen or imagined, the army of heaven. Each soldier is riding on a white horse and dressed in clean white robes. The lead rider has a sharp sword coming out of His mouth which He uses on His enemies with devastating effect. He has the name KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

What an incredible scene. Just the description is enough to send shivers down my spine and fill me with awe. Who is this rider? This is God the Son, Jesus Christ, returning to Earth at the end of time as the mighty, conquering King.

This is the final thing that we learn about Jesus, God the Son. He is not only God, Creator, Man, Saviour and Judge. Jesus is the King. This is not often the first picture we get when we think of Jesus. We think of Him as the humble servant. We think of Him as the self-sacrificing Saviour. We might even think of Him as the kind teacher. If we are truly to understand who God the Son is we must understand His role as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. At the end of time He will return as King to conquer and judge the unrighteous. This Earth will consumed in fire and God will create a New Heavens and a New Earth. Over this new creation and over His people Jesus will reign in glory forever. On this great day of judgment every person who has ever lived will kneel before Jesus and will confess that He is King and Lord.

This is not contrary to His nature as servant and saviour. In fact in Philippians 2:6-11, the same passage where Paul provides an incredible description of Jesus' humility, we also read that after Jesus' service God exalts Him to glory as King and Lord. It is not in opposition to Jesus humility and service that He is King, it is precisely because of His humility and service that He is given all glory and honour and is exalted as the King.

One day you will bow before Jesus as your king and Lord. You have a choice now that will affect what happens to you on that day. Will you place your faith in Him and allow Him to be your King now? If you do you will willingly bow before Him on that final day and worship Him as your King and Saviour. If you choose not to, you will unwillingly bow before Him on that final day and pay fearful worship to your King and your Judge. Which will you choose?

If you have already chosen to worship Jesus as your king and placed your faith in Him you still have a choice. Will you allow Jesus to be King over every area of your life? Jesus is a good and faithful King. Everything that you surrender to Him, offer to Him and allow Him to rule will be richer and fuller because you have surrendered it to Him. If you surrender your wealth to Him you may not be wealthy by the worlds standards, but you will gain treasure in heaven that can never fade. If you surrender your work to Him you may not become an overnight success but you will be working for a Kingdom that will never pass away.

Many of us still have areas of our life that we would prefer Jesus not touch. It might be a secret, hidden sin that we would like to persist in. It might be an area where we are afraid to trust and want to be in control. It might be something that we want to keep for ourselves and not surrender because we know what we will have to do if we do. Let me encourage you, if you surrender your life to Jesus it will be fuller and richer and you will gain a joy and a heavenly treasure that can never fade. It might be hard, but it will be best. Will you surrender that part of your life to Jesus today?

Walk Moment
Pray today that God would show you any areas of your life that you have not completely surrendered to Him as King. As He reveals them to you write them down and regularly pray that He would help you to surrender them to Him.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Why do you think we choose to hold back areas of our lives from Jesus? Why would we withhold parts of ourselves and choose not to let Him be King over them?
2. If you are willing to share, what are some areas of your life where you don't allow Jesus to be King? How can others in the group be praying for you and helping you in these areas?

Prayer:
Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration: 

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Praise Jesus that He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Praise Him for both His humility to be born as a man and His glory, that He is exalted above all others and will be worshipped forever.
• Pray for the gathering of believers together all around the world tomorrow. Pray that they would be encouraged and challenged in their faith. Pray that those who preach the word would do so faithfully and boldly. Pray that those who come to hear would have open and receptive hearts and would be changed by the work of the Spirit.

Friday 7 March 2014

Read: Matthew 25:31-33, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Jesus is Judge

There is an almost sure fire way of making some big mistakes when we are thinking about God. When people think about God this way they often end up with crazy and distorted ideas about how He treats people, end up applying their ideas in dangerous ways and even discard whole parts of the Bible. What is this sure fire way? Elevating certain attributes of God over others.

Think of this example. When we emphasise God's love over and above His holiness and justice we end up with a God who just ignores sin and rebellion and allows everyone into His presence regardless of what they have done. Have you seen this kind of teaching recently? This God seems to be terribly cruel when we consider that He sent His own son to die on the cross when He was just going to ignore sin anyway.

On the other hand, if we emphasise God's holiness and justice over and above His love we end up with a cruel, fearful God who can never be truly satisfied. We would have to throw out vast chunks of our Bible in order for it to make any sense at all. We might even end up becoming legalistic and imposing harsh rules which aren't biblical in an attempt to appease this angry God. Have you heard teaching like this?

If we want to have a right view of God we must understand all His attributes together and in balance.

This principle holds true also in our study of God the Son. This week we have studied His deity as God, His power as creator, His humility as a man and His grace and love as our Saviour. We must be careful, however, not to elevate these aspects of God the Son over and above the other things that we learn about Him in Scripture. You see Jesus is not just gracious, loving and humble. He's not just a cuddly fellow that we can lean on for love, comfort and support (not that He doesn't provide us these things). He is also a just, powerful and righteous judge.

Jesus Himself tells us about His role as judge in Matthew 25. Jesus tells us that one day He will return in glory. This won't be baby Jesus meek and mild, this will be King Jesus returning in splendour and glory. He will be escorted and praised by all the angels and He will take up His rightful position on the throne. All the nations will be gathered before Jesus on that day and He will judge each and every person. Jesus will separate the righteous from the unrighteous in the same way that a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Those who are righteous, those who put their faith in Christ and whose faith is proved by the fruit in their lives, will go to eternal life with Him. Those who are unrighteous will receive the only just punishment for sin against an all powerful, eternal God: eternal punishment in hell.

We see here that Jesus is not only gracious and loving as our Saviour, He is also just and righteous and cannot ignore the horror of sin. He will demonstrate this justice and righteousness when He returns to judge everyone who has ever lived.

How many people do you know who will face judgment on that day totally without hope? How many of your friends and family will be rightly punished for their unrighteousness and rebellion against God? Who in your life needs to hear the good news about Jesus our Saviour so that they might put their faith in Him?

It is not only non-Christians who will face the judgment seat of Christ. In fact, every person who has ever lived will face Him on that day. Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth of this fact in 2 Corinthians 5:10 but he does not remind them to make them afraid or to invoke some kind of guilt based righteousness. Rather he talks about the confidence that we can have knowing that to die is to be with the Lord. The person who has faith in Christ does not need to fear that day because their punishment has been paid forever at the cross.

So what does it mean to us that Jesus is Judge? Paul makes the application clear in verse 9: "So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it."
Remembering Jesus as Judge should change our lives. As you consider the role of Jesus as Judge will you live to please Him today? Will you work in such a way as to please Him? Will you treat your family in such a way as to please Him? Will you live to please Him with your words? Will you live to please Him with your thoughts? Will you live every moment of your day to please Him?

Witness Moment
Make a list of all the people in your life who don't know Christ. Commit to praying for each of them regularly. Pray that God would give you an opportunity to share the Gospel with them. Keep your eyes open to opportunities and take advantage of them when they come.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups
One of the most incredible passages on the Character of God in the whole Bible is Exodus 33:17-34:8. Read the passage together before answering the questions.

1. As a group see how many attributes of God that you can list from this passage. Hint: There might be a few more than there seems...
2. In addition to the ones mentioned above see if you can think of some other bad teachings about God which are caused by elevating certain attributes of God over others.
3. As you study the Bible what can you do to help keep the attributes of God in balance?

Prayer:
Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration: 

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Pray for the ministry of evangelism in your church. Pray that each congregation member would be filled with a passion and a heart for the lost. Pray that God would give each person courage to take advantage of every opportunity they have to share with others. Pray that you too would have a passion for the lost and to share the wonder of what Christ has done.
• Pray for all the married couples in your congregation. Pray that God would encourage them and strengthen them in their marriage. Pray that they would grow in their love for one another and their dependence on God in their marriage.

Thursday 6 March 2014

Read: Mark 15:21-37, Romans 3:21-26
Jesus is Saviour

Aside from someone's name, what is the first thing that you ask about when you meet someone new? Most often the first thing that we ask is something like: "What do you do?" One of the first things that we always want to know about someone is what sort of work they do. Although this isn't always a helpful first question (our total identity is not just the things that we do) it does provide a helpful insight into who someone is. If I told you that I was an accountant you would immediately have a certain perception of what sort of person I am. The work that we do reveals a certain amount about who we are.

Imagine for a moment that you met God the Son for the first time at a party. After introducing yourself you ask that first question: "What do you do?" For God the Son the answer will always be the same. There is one incredible, life changing, earth shattering, history altering thing that He has done that we must know. For us to understand God the Son we must understand this incredible thing: Jesus is Saviour.

We read about this incredible thing that God the Son did in Mark 15. Jesus suffered and died on the cross. Jesus, God the Son incarnate, willingly became a man, willingly suffered at the hands of cruel Roman soldiers and willingly surrendered His life on the cross.

Why would this possibly happen? Why would God Himself choose to come to Earth and to die a seemingly pointless death? What could the purpose possibly be? We find the answer in Romans 3:21-26. In these verses Paul carefully unpacks for us the meaning of Christ's death.

Paul has established in the first few chapters of Romans how mankind is broken, sinful and totally without excuse before God. In chapter 1 he described how all of mankind can see evidence of God's existence and character through creation. Despite this mankind still sinned and still chose to reject God. The evidence of God in creation means that man is without excuse when they choose to sin. In chapter 2 he made it personal, each of us have broken God's righteous law and each of us deserve His punishment. It is not enough to be a Jew and to keep the law (as if that was truly possible for fallen mankind) or to seem outwardly righteous. Each and every person has broken God's standard. Paul sums this up in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God"

It certainly doesn't seem like good news. Each and every person is condemned before God. But Paul follows right up with the good news in verses 24 and 25. Have another look at those verses. This is what makes the cross good news. God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement for sin. Jesus’ death pays the penalty for all of our sins. On the cross Jesus receives everything that we deserve. When we put our faith in Him we are saved from the penalty of our sins and before God we are considered righteous. Through the cross Jesus becomes our Saviour.

This incredible event in history was not just some afterthought. God did not see the sinfulness of mankind and panic about what He would do to solve the problem. There wasn't an emergency meeting held in the Trinity after the fall to figure out how to solve the problem. God the Son had always planned to come as a man, to live, to suffer, to die and to be raised from the dead for His people. Even before creation, before the fall and before becoming a man Jesus planned to be the Saviour for the world (Ephesians 1:4-6). This is a vital part of who God the Son is.

If you have been part of a church for a long time you will have hopefully heard this before. This is the essential message of the Christian faith, the central Gospel message. After we have heard it a few times it is easy for us to forget its impact and be desensitised towards the most incredible news in the universe. Reflect afresh today on what Christ has done as our Saviour. Wonder again at the great love of the Saviour that He would willingly choose to live, to suffer and to die for us. Praise Him for His goodness, His grace and His love.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Why do you think it is so easy to lose the wonder about what Christ has done for us? Why do we so quickly forget?
2. How can we remind ourselves every day about what Christ has done?
3. What could you do as a group to help each other remember Christ's incredible sacrifice on your behalf?

Prayer:
Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration: 

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Thank Jesus for all that He has done. Praise Him that He willingly humbled Himself to become a man for you. Praise Him that He chose to live and to die for your sake. Praise Him that He suffered the penalty for your sins on the cross. Pray that He would help you to remember the wonder of what He has done.
• Pray for the pastor of your church. If your church does not have a pastor pray for those who preach the Word and who encourage and love the congregation. Pray that God would encourage them and strengthen them in their work. Pray that they might maintain a strong relationship with Him and grow in their love for Him and His people. Pray that God would show you how you can encourage the leaders in your church.

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Read: Philippians 2:5-11, 1 John 4:1-3
Jesus is Man

I hope you're sitting down for this next study. If you have access to a seatbelt I would recommend restraining yourself. The next thing that we learn about God the Son is simply incredible, shocking even. So shocking that despite hearing it hundreds of times, the incredible truth of it might not have truly sunk in yet. You'd better watch out, because today it might just blow you away. What is this incredible thing we learn about God the Son?

God the Son became a man. That's right. God the Son became a MAN.

Think about that for a moment. The God of the Universe, the creator, ruler and sustainer of all things became a human being. The one who has existed in eternity past has chosen to limit Himself and become a human being. He traded incomprehensible heavenly glory and wealth for the life of a poor, homeless Jewish teacher. He traded the rightful worship and service of all of the universe to come as a humble servant to serve and love His creation. He took on all the limitations of human existence: sickness, suffering, tiredness, the need to eat and drink, poverty and even death for the sake of others. God the Son became a man.

There have been many false teachings about this in history. Some, rightly shocked at this incredible concept, have wrongly sought to downplay Jesus' humanity. The early church fathers publicly fought against gnosticism, the heretical teaching that Jesus came only as a spirit in the illusion of a man and teaching that all physical creation was inferior and sinful. John writes incredibly strongly against these types of heresies in 1 John 4: "Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus, is not from God."

The Bible is clear, God the Son became a man and took the name Jesus Christ. Jesus was fully human in every single way. He was not an illusion, a spirit or only partially human. He was fully human. But, equally as important, Jesus was fully divine. He did not surrender His divine nature at all. He remained and will forever remain fully God. He chose to willingly surrender some of His power for a time in order to serve humanity. Jesus is 100% human and 100% God. Jesus is God the Son become a man.

Paul writes about the wonder of this in Philippians 2:6-8. Talking about Jesus he writes: "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!"

God the Son chose to be born as a human baby, to become Jesus Christ, to take on the nature of a servant. More than that, He humbled Himself and became obedient even to the point of His own death, even death on a cross. The God of the universe who is worthy of all honour and praise and glory willingly went to die in the most shameful, painful and terrible manner of death that the ancient world had to offer. Hands that created the world and scattered the stars in the heavens were pierced by cruel nails. The feet that deserve to rest on the Earth for their footstool (Isaiah 66:1, Acts 7:49) are nailed to a piece of wood and painfully used to push up the body of God the Son. The one who spoke the entire universe into being now cries out in pain "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!?" The one who is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end pays the price for our sin and cries out "it is finished!"

This ought to totally blow us away. Too quickly we can become desensitised to the wonder of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. God the Son willingly humbled Himself to live and to die for our sake. We should need to sit down to think about this. We should need a seatbelt to stop us from being blown away. God's love is truly incredible. Take a moment to praise God for His incredible love and to wonder at the fact that God the Son would become a man to save you from your sin.

Walk Moment
How should it change our lives that Jesus willingly became a man? Paul makes one application clear in Philippians 2, we are to have the same humble, obedient attitude that Christ had. How do you think remembering that Jesus became a man would change your attitude? What could you do to remind yourself of this every day?

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Why do you think it is important that Jesus came as a physical human being and not merely some kind of spirit? What other beliefs would this affect?
2. Imagine that you are talking with someone who denies Jesus' humanity. What passages could you point to show them that Jesus was truly human?

Prayer:
Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Thank God the son that He came as a human being. Thank Him that He humbled Himself to become a man and to be born as a human being for our sake. Praise Him for His grace and love towards us that He would do that willingly. Pray that He would help you to be humble and to serve others.
• Pray for Playpals at ChristLife today. Pray that the mums would grow in relationship with one another and in relationship with their children. Pray that the friendships that are made in this group would bear fruit and would result in opportunities to share the gospel. Pray that those mums who don't know Christ would have soft hearts.

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Read: Colossians 1:15-17, John 1:1-5, Hebrews 1:1-4

Jesus is Creator

Few things reveal the incredible and awesome power of our God in such a tangible way as the wonders of creation. Have you ever stood on a mountain and marvelled at the sheer size of what God has shaped? Have you ever been rendered speechless by the seemly endless palette of colours in a sunset? Have you ever paused to look at the intricacies and minute detail on the leaves of a tree? Have you wondered at the night's sky? Have you been awed as you consider the sheer scale of the universe? Have you admired the form and intricate design of the human body? Enjoyed the soothing tones of sweet music? Had your nose tickled by a vast array of wonderful smells? We could keep going forever listing those things in creation that reveal the incredible creative power of our infinite God.

Have you ever paused to consider the role that God the Son played in creation? We have seen already that God the Son is God but we see also in Scripture that God the Son is creator. In Colossians 1:15-20, one of the most incredible passages in Scripture about God the Son, Paul tells us that all things were created by God the Son and for God the Son. Paul couldn't be clearer. In case we would be tempted to leave something out of this (like the Jehovah's witnesses do) Paul gives us a remarkably comprehensive description of what things were created by God the Son: "Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him."

The apostle John confirms this in John 1:3. God the Son was involved with the creation of everything. By implication this means that God the Son could not possibly be a created being. Everything was created through Him and nothing was created without Him. This would not make sense if He Himself was created first.

The writer of Hebrews gives us a little more detail on what it means that all things were created through God the Son. In writing about God the Father in Hebrews 1:2 the author writes: "But in these last days He [God the Father] has spoken to us by His Son [God the Son], whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe."

Both God the Father and God the Son are involved intimately in the creation of the universe. God the Father created the universe (all things as we read in Colossians 2 and John 1) through God the Son. Both were totally involved.

What does all this mean for us? So what, that God the Son is also Creator? The writer of Hebrews makes the implication clear: God the Son is superior even to the angels. In fact, as we learn from other passages, God the Son is superior to all of creation. He is God, creator and sustainer of the universe, worthy of all honour, praise, glory and worship. How does this perspective of God the Son change the way that we worship? We are not merely serving Jesus, meek and mild baby in a manger. We are serving the all powerful creator God of the universe - the one who was involved in the creation of all things. Who sustains and rules all things. We serve the all powerful God! Spend some time praising Him now as the creator God.

Worship Moment

It is good to be accurate in the way that we pray and the way that we praise our God. Make an effort today to praise Jesus for who He is as creator, sustainer, ruler, redeemer, king and judge. Can you think of any other roles of the God the Son that you can praise Him for today?

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. How should an understanding of God the Son as creator change your personal prayer and worship times? How can you incorporate this understanding into those times?
2. How do you think an understanding of God the Son as creator could be incorporated into our corporate worship times as a church?

Prayer:

Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration:

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Praise God the Son as the creator of all things. Praise Him for the things that He has made. Praise Him that He is creative and has shaped something so beautiful. Take a moment today to notice creation around you and to praise Him as creator.
• Pray for the elders in your church as they seek to lead and guide the congregation in their relationship with God. Pray that God would give them wisdom and understanding as they seek to lead. Pray that they would be loving and have a deep and sincere care for the congregation. Pray that they would be encouraged and would persist in their difficult and important work.

Monday 3 March 2014

Read: John 1:1-14, Hebrews 1:1-3
Jesus is God

The first thing that we learn about God the Son is that He is God. God the Son is not just some mask that God the Father wears at some point in history as Modalism would teach (see notes for February 22). God the Son is just as much God as is God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Even before He became a man and was born as Jesus Christ, God the Son existed throughout eternity past and will continue to exist into eternity future as an equal member of the Godhead, as God.

Since the beginning of the church many have sought to deny this crucial teaching and deny the deity of God the Son. In 325AD the Council of Nicaea was convened to confirm this truth and to counter the teaching of Arianism, an ancient heresy teaching that Jesus was essentially an angel, the highest created being but not God. The Council of Nicaea denied this teaching and confirmed the teaching of the early church and the Deity of God the Son writing: "And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father."

Witness Moment
Isn't it amazing how God brings the mission field right to our doors? Do you take full advantage of this opportunity that is literally knocking on your door? Are you willing to invest the time and effort required to share the gospel with these people? Are you prepared to answer their false teaching? Consider setting aside some time to research how you can respond and be praying that God would prepare you to take full advantage of every opportunity.

The Arian heresy has carried on through the history of the church and even today some groups deny the deity of God the Son. Two such groups are the Jehovah's Witnesses who teach that Jesus is a created being, and the Mormons who teach that Jesus is a god but a lesser being than God the Father.

In opposition to the teaching of these groups God's Word clearly teaches that God the Son is God. In John 1 we read that the Word (revealed to be Jesus, God the Son in verse 14) has existed since the very beginning of time. Not only has the Word existed but He was with God and He was God. If that's not enough evidence for us John makes it even clearer saying: "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made."

God the Son is not a created being. He is God. Through Him all things were made and nothing was made without Him. Jesus cannot be a created being of any description because nothing was created without Him.

The writer of Hebrews is even more explicit about the Deity of God the Son. Notice especially verse 3 of chapter 1: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word."

We could point to countless other verses which show the Deity of God the Son. He is not merely some created being, made along with the rest of creation. He is God. More incredibly, God the Son chose to be born as a human being, to live, suffer and die as Jesus Christ for our sake and to be raised from death. Jesus is not just a nice teacher or a cuddly friend who can help us when we need it. Jesus is God the Son Himself, the all powerful creator God of the universe come to be amongst His people. We must always remember the wonder of who Jesus truly is and praise Him as God.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

Are you prepared to defend the Deity of Christ when people come knocking on your door? As a group do some research on these false religions and come up with a plan for defending the Deity of Christ next time they knock on your door. If it helps, practice your responses together until you can remember them. If you would like some suggestions for where to start, contact the church office.

Prayer:
Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration: 

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Praise Jesus for who He is. Praise Him that He is indeed God the Son who has existed from eternity past. Praise Him that He is all powerful, all knowing and worthy of all praise. Praise Him that He indeed is God and worthy of your worship.
• Pray for the small groups and families in your church who will be meeting through the week to study God's word together and to encourage one another. Pray that their time would be fruitful and encouraging for all involved. Pray that they might grow in their love for God and their love for one another.